Protest Against Company That Receives TIF Funds but Discriminates in Hiring of African-American Workers

Scores of Angry Workers and Residents to hold Action against Westside Employers who receive TIF funds but discriminates against African-American Workers.

The South Austin Coalition (SACCC) and the Westside Health Authority (WHA) will be joined by angry workers and community allies at a press action on the front steps of Mercury Plastics, a Westside employer who received TIF support to provide jobs, but practices an employment model of blatant discrimination and poor working conditions.

The protest will be held today, Tuesday, March 24, 2015 at 4500 W. Fullerton (staging area for march to company) at 11 a.m.

Organizers of the protest say Mercury Plastics does no direct hiring of its hundreds of production workers. Instead, it directs all applicants to two temp agencies: Flexible Staffing in Franklin Park, and MVP in Cicero. By the direction of the company, these agencies systematically discriminates against all non-Mexican immigrant workers. In addition, degraded working conditions at Mercury drive high turnover.

Despite these issues, they say, Mercury received TIF funds worth tens of thousands of dollars, to defray costs. What is so disturbing about this issue is African-American taxpayers are paying for a company that has perma-temped its workforce, degraded its jobs and discriminates against those blacks and other non-Mexican workers.

“We are demanding jobs, and the dismantling of this pervasive segregationist employment model that discriminates against African-American and other U.S. born workers-while preying on Mexican immigrant workers to do degraded jobs in abusive working conditions,” said Charles Perry, Director of Organizing, Westside Health Authority.